The name Mul is very unusual and it has been postulated that it derives from the
Latin mulus meaning mule, a word which is known to have entered the
Old English vocabulary. Presumably it was a nickname which had become habitual. Mul's father was
Coenberht, making him a member of the
House of Wessex (a descendant of
Cynric) and his brother was
Caedwalla of Wessex. Mul is described as briefly ruling as King of the Kingdom of Kent following its conquest by Caedwalla in 686. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that in 686, "Caedwalla and Mul, his brother, ravaged Kent and
Wight." Mul's reign is also mentioned in a
charter of the later king
Swæfheard.
Death Mul seems to have only ruled a year before the local population rose up in revolt against him in 687, chasing him and his followers into a building near the church and setting it on fire, burning them to death. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports "Mul was burned in Kent, and 12 other men with him; and that year Caedwalla again ravaged Kent." The same
Chronicle notes that in 694, the people of Kent came to terms with
Ine of Wessex, Caedwalla's successor, and granted him a sum "because they had burned Mul earlier". ==See also==